2000–01 Iraqi Elite League

The 2000–01 Iraqi Elite League was the 27th season of the competition since its foundation in 1974. The name of the league was changed from Iraqi First Division League to Iraqi Elite League. Instead of relegating teams from the 1999–2000 season and promoting teams from the lower division in order to decide which teams were playing in the competition, the Iraq Football Association decided that every eligible team in the country should play qualifying games in order to decide who participated.

Iraqi Elite League
Season2000–01
ChampionsAl-Zawraa
(10th title)
RelegatedAl-Kut
Karbala
2002–03 AFC Champions LeagueAl-Zawraa
Top goalscorerHussein Abdullah
(21 goals)
← 1999–2000
(Iraqi First Division League)

The qualifying rounds saw a total of 135 teams being split into regional groups, all competing for the 16 places in the league.[1] After all the qualifiers were over in December, the league competition itself was held with each team playing 30 matches. In the end, Al-Zawraa won their third league title in a row, finishing eight points clear at the top.[2][3]

Regional qualifiers

First round

In the first qualifying round, each province apart from Baghdad and Sulaymaniya had its own qualifying tournament with the winner advancing to the second qualifying round.

Province Winner Notes
Al-AnbarAl-Ramadi
Al-QadisiyaAl-DiwaniyaOther competing teams included Al-Yaqdha, Afak, Al-Daghara, Al-Shamiya, Al-Rafidain and Ghammas
BabilAl-QasimAl-Qasim played Babil in a play-off over two legs which ended 1–1 and 0–0; Al-Qasim qualified on away goals. Other competing teams included Al-Hilla
BasraAl-MinaaAl-Minaa played Al-Basra in a two-legged play-off; both legs ended in draws and Al-Minaa won 1–0 via a golden goal in extra-time. Other competing teams included Al-Bahri, Al-Ittihad, Al-Zubair, Kahrabaa Al-Hartha, Al-Junoob, Abi Al-Khaseeb, Al-Khor, Al-Qurna, Al-Dair, Umm Qasr, Al-Midaina and Al-Rumaila
Dhi QarAl-Nasiriya
DiyalaAl-KhalisOther competing teams included Diyala (who withdrew), Jalawla, Al-Miqdadiya, Khanaqin, Balad Ruz and Al-Shaheed Arkan
DuhokDuhokOther competing teams included Zakho and Peris
ErbilErbil
KarbalaKarbalaOther competing teams included Al-Hindiya, Al-Jamahir and Al-Husseiniya
KirkukKirkukOther competing teams included Al-Thawra, Al-Hawija, Al-Dibis and Daquq
MaysanMaysanOther competing teams included Al-Amara
MuthannaAl-SamawaOther competing teams included Al-Khidhir, Al-Muthanna and Al-Rumaitha
NajafAl-Najaf
NinevehAl-MosulAl-Mosul played Hikna in a two-legged play-off; both legs ended in draws (one of which was 3–3) and Al-Mosul qualified on away goals. Other competing teams included Al-Qayara, Al-Intisar, Zummar, Hamam Al-Alil, Tel Afar and Bashiqa
SalahaddinSamarraOther competing teams included Salahaddin, Al-Alam, Al-Dawr Al-Ahli, Al-Shirqat and Baiji
WasitAl-KutOther competing teams included Wasit, Al-Mutasim, Al-Hay, Al-Aziziya, Al-Numaniya and Al-Suwaira
Baghdad – All 35 teams admitted directly to second qualifying round
Sulaymaniya – Sulaymaniya admitted directly to second qualifying round

Second round

In the second qualifying round, which started in September and ended in December, the remaining teams were split into five regional groups. The two Baghdad groups were played in a single round-robin format (teams played each other once) while the other three groups were played in a double round-robin format (teams played each other twice).[4][5][6]

North Group
TeamResult
DuhokQualified to Elite League
Samarra
Erbil
Kirkuk
Al-Mosul
Sulaymaniya

Central Group
TeamResult
Al-NajafQualified to Elite League
Al-Ramadi
Karbala
Al-Khalis
Al-Qasim

South Group
TeamResult
Al-KutQualified to Elite League
Al-Samawa
Al-Minaa
Maysan
Al-Nasiriya
Al-Diwaniya

Baghdad Group 1
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Al-Shorta 17 16 1 0 82 8 +74 49 Qualified to Elite League
2 Al-Karkh 17 15 2 0 83 13 +70 47
3 Al-Zawraa 17 14 1 2 80 7 +73 43
4 Al-Jaish 17 12 2 3 42 16 +26 38 Qualified to Play-off round
5 Al-Sinaa 17 10 4 3 42 20 +22 34
6 Al-Kadhimiya 17 9 5 3 40 14 +26 32
7 Al-Nahdha 17 8 4 5 32 27 +5 28
8 Al-Umal 17 7 5 5 38 29 +9 26
9 Al-Siyaha 17 8 1 8 22 33 −11 25
10 Al-Amana 17 6 6 5 39 32 +7 24
11 Al-Shabab 17 6 4 7 17 20 −3 22
12 Al-Bareed 17 5 3 9 23 47 −24 18
13 Al-Khutoot 17 5 2 10 24 41 −17 17
14 Al-Hudood 17 4 1 12 27 51 −24 13
15 Al-Adhamiya 17 1 3 13 15 75 −60 6
16 Tayaran Al-Jaish 17 1 2 14 10 55 −45 5
17 Al-Shaheed Dulaf 17 1 1 15 13 72 −59 4
18 Al-Madain 17 1 1 15 9 78 −69 4
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Results
Home \ Away ADH AMN BRD HUD KDH KKH KHT JSH MDN NDH SHB SHD SHR SIN SIY UML ZWR TYJ
Al-Adhamiya 3–9 0–4 0–2 0–3 2–2 1–1
Al-Amana 8–0 1–1 5–4 3–3 4–1 2–1 5–2 0–2 1–1 2–2
Al-Bareed 2–1 4–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–3
Al-Hudood 1–1 0–3 0–1 1–2 1–0
Al-Kadhimiya 1–1 3–1 0–3 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–2
Al-Karkh 14–2 4–0 5–1 4–1 0–0 5–1 10–2 3–1 3–0 6–0 5–0 7–3 1–0 5–1
Al-Khutoot 5–0 1–2 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–7 0–1 3–0
Al-Jaish 5–1 2–1 6–3 3–1 0–5 4–2 5–0 0–0 1–0 6–0 0–1 5–0 0–2 1–0
Al-Madain 0–3 1–0 0–7 2–5 0–2 0–7 0–3
Al-Nahdha 4–1 1–1 3–0 1–5 3–1 1–1 4–1
Al-Shabab 1–1 1–0 1–1
Al-Shaheed Dulaf 1–2 0–5 4–2 0–2 1–3
Al-Shorta 8–0 2–1 7–1 10–1 4–1 0–0 4–0 4–1 8–1 4–0 6–0
Al-Sinaa 4–0 3–1 2–1 1–6 4–0 0–0 7–0 1–0 6–0 0–5 2–0 0–0 7–0
Al-Siyaha 2–1 4–0 0–5 0–1 3–0 1–4 0–2
Al-Umal 0–0 5–2 3–1 2–1 0–1 8–0 3–3 1–1 8–0 2–1
Al-Zawraa 7–0 3–0[lower-alpha 1] 7–0 7–0 11–1 4–0 4–0 6–0 0–1 5–1 6–1 6–0 8–0
Tayaran Al-Jaish 2–3 0–3 0–5 0–0 0–2 4–2 0–2
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Notes:
  1. The Al-Zawraa–Al-Bareed match originally ended 0–0 but was changed to a 3–0 win for Al-Zawraa due to Al-Bareed fielding an ineligible player.

Baghdad Group 2
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 Al-Talaba 16 15 0 1 82 4 +78 45 Qualified to Elite League
2 Al-Naft 16 14 2 0 52 2 +50 44
3 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 16 14 1 1 65 7 +58 43
4 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 16 12 2 2 60 13 +47 38 Qualified to Play-off round
5 Al-Shuala 16 9 1 6 28 18 +10 28
6 Al-Majd 16 7 3 6 36 23 +13 24
7 Haifa 16 7 3 6 21 24 −3 24
8 Al-Sulaikh 16 7 1 8 34 28 +6 22
9 Al-Mahmoudiya 16 6 4 6 13 25 −12 22
10 Tamouz 16 5 4 7 19 29 −10 19
11 Abu Ghraib 16 4 3 9 19 51 −32 15
12 Al-Qaqaa 16 4 3 9 15 49 −34 15
13 Al-Tijara 16 4 2 10 11 32 −21 14
14 Al-Hurriya 16 3 3 10 19 42 −23 12
15 Batal Al-Tahreer 16 3 1 12 15 52 −37 10
16 Al-Salama 16 3 1 12 16 58 −42 10
17 Al-Saqr Al-Arabi 16 1 2 13 13 61 −48 5
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Results
Home \ Away ABU DIF HUR MAH MJD NFT QQA QWJ SLM SQR SHL SLK TLB TJR BTL HFA TMZ
Abu Ghraib 1–7 1–1 1–2 5–2 2–2 0–4 2–1 2–2
Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 2–1 1–1 11–0 2–0 0–2 3–0
Al-Hurriya 3–1 0–5 1–2 0–3 2–0 2–6 4–2
Al-Mahmoudiya 1–0 3–3 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–3 1–1 0–0 2–1
Al-Majd 1–0 0–1 4–0 5–3 7–2 3–0 1–1 1–1
Al-Naft 7–0 7–0 4–0 2–0 4–0 4–0 7–0 1–0 3–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 5–0
Al-Qaqaa 0–5 2–1 3–2 0–2 1–2
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 6–0 4–2 5–1 1–0 0–0 6–0 7–1 7–1 1–0 6–0 0–1 5–0 2–0
Al-Salama 0–1 3–1 0–10 1–0 2–2
Al-Saqr Al-Arabi 0–8 2–2 1–4 2–1 0–1
Al-Shuala 0–1 3–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 2–0 1–2 3–1 1–2
Al-Sulaikh 2–0 1–3 5–1 4–0 1–0 7–1 1–2
Al-Talaba 9–0 5–1 5–0 5–1 0–1 9–0 8–0 4–0 3–1 5–0 6–0 6–0 4–0
Al-Tijara 0–6 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–1
Batal Al-Tahreer 2–1 1–7 0–7 0–2 2–0 1–3 1–2
Haifa 1–2 1–2 3–2 3–0 2–1 4–4 1–0 0–1 1–0
Tamouz 1–2 0–2 0–0 2–2 1–5 4–0
Source: Al-Shameri Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-off round

In the play-off round, the two fourth-placed teams from the Baghdad Groups faced off in a two-legged tie to determine the seventh qualifying team from Baghdad.

Al-Difaa Al-Jawi0–1Al-Jaish
Al-Jaish1–2Al-Difaa Al-Jawi

2–2 on aggregate. Al-Difaa Al-Jawi won on away goals and qualified for the Elite League.

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al-Zawraa (C) 30 23 1 6 80 24 +56 70 2002–03 AFC Champions League preliminary round 3[lower-alpha 1]
2 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 30 18 8 4 53 24 +29 62
3 Al-Shorta 30 19 3 8 60 26 +34 60
4 Al-Talaba 30 17 9 4 43 22 +21 60
5 Duhok 30 16 7 7 44 24 +20 55
6 Al-Najaf 30 15 7 8 31 16 +15 52
7 Al-Karkh 30 14 8 8 48 33 +15 50
8 Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 30 13 9 8 33 29 +4 48
9 Al-Minaa 30 10 10 10 24 26 −2 40
10 Samarra 30 10 6 14 34 50 −16 36
11 Al-Naft 30 8 10 12 31 40 −9 34
12 Erbil 30 6 11 13 24 46 −22 29
13 Al-Samawa 30 6 8 16 26 37 −11 26
14 Al-Ramadi 30 6 4 20 31 67 −36 22
15 Al-Kut (R) 30 3 3 24 18 56 −38 12 Relegation to the Iraqi Division One
16 Karbala (R) 30 3 2 25 16 76 −60 11
Source: Ali Al-Sabti Archive
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Iraq were given two slots for the 2002–03 AFC Champions League, therefore 2000–01 league champions Al-Zawraa were admitted to the qualifying round and 2001–02 league champions Al-Talaba entered the group stage.

Results
Home \ Away DIF KKH KUT MIN NFT NJF QWJ RMA SMA SHR TLB ZWR DHK ERB KRB SMR
Al-Difaa Al-Jawi 3–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 0–2 3–0 1–0 1–3 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 3–0 1–0
Al-Karkh 2–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 3–2 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 1–3 2–0 7–0 5–1
Al-Kut 1–1 2–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–1 2–1 1–0 0–3 0–1 1–6 0–1 0–1 0–1 0–2
Al-Minaa 1–0 1–4 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0
Al-Naft 1–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 2–1 0–1 4–2 0–0 0–3 1–2 2–4 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1
Al-Najaf 1–0 4–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 0–0 4–1 2–0 0–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–0
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 2–0 2–1 4–3 4–0 1–0 2–0 2–2 4–0 0–0 2–0 5–1
Al-Ramadi 0–1 1–2 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–2 0–2 1–0 0–3 2–2 1–0 1–2
Al-Samawa 1–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 0–0 0–1 9–0 0–0 1–3 1–3 0–0 1–0 1–0 2–0
Al-Shorta 2–2 0–1 5–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–2 1–0 3–0 2–3 2–1 2–1 5–1 2–0 1–3
Al-Talaba 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–0 3–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–2 0–0 3–0
Al-Zawraa 5–0 3–2 2–1 3–0 5–0 1–0 4–2 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 4–0 5–2 8–0 6–2
Duhok 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 4–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 0–2 0–1 2–0 5–1 2–0
Erbil 1–1 0–0 2–1 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–1 2–1 3–2 0–3 1–1 0–4 1–1 2–0 0–0
Karbala 0–1 0–3 3–2 0–2 0–2 0–3 1–5 2–4 0–3 0–7 1–3 0–1 1–3 0–1 5–1
Samarra 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–2 1–0 2–3 4–0 1–1 0–3 0–1 0–1 1–2 3–1 2–1
Source: Ali Al-Sabti Archive
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top scorers
Pos Scorer Goals Team
1 Hussein Abdullah 21 Duhok
2 Ahmed Khudhair 19 Al-Shorta
3 Ammar Ahmed 14 Al-Zawraa

Hat-tricks
Main article: List of Iraq Stars League hat-tricks
Player[2]ForAgainstResultDate
Iraq Ammar Ahmed Al-ZawraaKarbala8–04 January 2001
Iraq Hashim Ridha Al-ShortaAl-Najaf3–09 January 2001
Iraq Ahmed Khalaf SamarraAl-Ramadi4–09 January 2001
Iraq Ali Mansour4 Al-SamawaAl-Ramadi9–016 February 2001
Iraq Mohammed Abdul-Nabi Al-SamawaAl-Ramadi9–016 February 2001
Iraq Alaa Abdul-Sattar Al-ZawraaAl-Kut6–123 April 2001
Iraq Hussein Abdullah DuhokKarbala5–115 May 2001
Iraq Dhurgham Ali Al-Quwa Al-JawiyaKarbala5–120 May 2001
Iraq Ahmed Khalaf4 Al-KarkhKarbala7–028 May 2001
Iraq Ahmed Khudhair Al-ShortaAl-Difaa Al-Jawi3–18 June 2001
Iraq Ahmed Khudhair5 Al-ShortaAl-Kut5–114 June 2001
Iraq Amer Mushraf Al-ShortaKarbala7–022 June 2001
Notes

4 Player scored 4 goals
5 Player scored 5 goals

References
  1. "The Iraqi League with its new system kicks off December 25". Al-Awsat. 14 December 2000.
  2. Al-Sabti, Ali (2014). Iraqi League History 1974-2011. Iraq.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Al-Munshi, Dr.Dhia (2005). Iraqi Football Encyclopedia: Chico.. Jamoli… and football in Iraq. Citadel Printing & Design, Al-Saadoun, Baghdad.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. "Baghdad draw". IraqSport. Archived from the original on 2000-10-22. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  5. "Next Monday, the Baghdad Groups will start". IraqSport. 31 August 2000. Archived from the original on 2000-10-12.
  6. "Al-Talaba are champions of the second Baghdad group". IraqSport. Archived from the original on 2000-12-02.
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